“Hydrogen is not just fuel. Hydrogen is an economy – it means transportation that runs on hydrogen, a generation that works on hydrogen, homes that will receive electricity and heat from hydrogen” – this is the vision presented by the CEO and founder
Jencel
+ 6.16%
Base:1,233
opening:1,340
Tall:1,350
low:1,281
change:4,636,962
Page Quote News Graphs Company Profile Recommendations
More articles on the subject:
The Israeli, Rami Reshef, has an energetic future for all of us, and as he will explain, there are points around the globe where this vision is already becoming a reality: “The Japanese government has funded 300,000 homes connected to hydrogen-powered fuel cells. Energetic independence. ”
Gencel, founded in 2011 by Reshef, Gennady Finkelstein and Gil Shavit, offers green energy solutions based on fuel cells, including power backup systems for sites such as hospitals, data centers, financial institutions, communications towers, factories, security agencies and more. Gencel also supplies hydrogen-based generators to areas not connected to the electricity grid and has also developed a system that produces hydrogen through ammonia, which will be used primarily by the public transportation industry.
We are continuing the conversation with Reshef following the company’s report on a $ 6 million contract signed with the Mexican electricity company, for the supply of the company’s G5rx power backup system for the hate stations in the country. The agreement will be extended over two years with an option to increase the scope of the transaction to $ 12 million. The signing came at the end of a one-year pilot in which we tested the company’s systems in Mexico.
“This is the second largest company we work with, the first was the San Diego Electric Company in California,” Reshef says. “The next customers will already rely on two successes so the processes there will be shorter. In some of them the pilot will be shorter and in others it may be you without a pilot, I can not predict.”
What other strategic markets are you marking?
“The whole continent of America, focusing on earthquake-prone areas like California. Alongside America there is Europe which is a major target market, given the EU’s intention to invest 750 billion euros in the hydrogen economy, and Asia, with an emphasis on Japan.
“The Japanese government sees hydrogen as Japan’s not-so-distant fuel, they have hydrogen-powered vehicles and buses. In Japan we also have a local partner, a large company called TDK. These are areas that on the one hand have government support and appropriate regulation for the transition from polluting to clean fuels. .
“On the other hand, these are developed economies that want to reach the goal of a neutral carbon footprint by 2050 – this means that hydrogen will become 20% of the global energy market.”
And where does Israel stand in this sense of support and regulation?
“We are not in a good place, but in recent years there has been a shift to green energies – mostly solar, and buds of wind-based energy promotion. The fact that Gencel is seen as a world leader and is Israeli will help regulators here and the government allocate the necessary resources.
“I’m not a big politician but I can say that a plan is not needed for three new ones, neither for one year nor for two years. The energy fields are high in planning and budget and goals should be set for both 2030 and 2050 for methane energy independence (CH4).
“The State of Israel cannot stay behind Europe and certainly not behind countries in the Middle East such as Saudi Arabia that are already investing huge sums in hydrogen. A country must be active if it wants to shape its future energy economy.”
The company is traded at a value of 1.2 billion – is it worth it?
Gencel is a new entrant to the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, and was first issued in mid-November, when it raised NIS 205 million from the public in an IPO led by IBI workers at a value of about NIS 800 million (after the money). The company is currently traded on NIS 1.2 billion.
According to Reshef, even after the IPO, things remained as they were before it. “The next day we went back to work. That’s it. Our job as management now is to create value for the new shareholders who have joined us from the public. I always say that one of the special things about Gensel is that you don’t have many opportunities in life to do good for both shareholders and the world.”
You say that things look more or less the same, the issue of salaries for officials is not affected by the scrutiny of the public?
“We have always acted modestly and clearly. The IPO has not changed anything in that sense.”
What has changed is the share price, which is 50% higher than the issue price. There is no sense of missing out on the money “left on the floor”?
“By no means. On the contrary – it was a conscious and clear decision. It is better to start small and grow and have everyone who joins you enjoy it, than to start big and noisy. We have been building ourselves in a structured and orderly way for 10 years investing blood, sweat, tears and money. We will change our DNA because we are public. The aim was to issue at fair value and we are glad that it was factually accepted as such, as we understood from the embrace we received from the capital market. The market value of companies similar to us at NASDAQ can give an indication of where the value can go. I want to prophesy. ”
We are starting to talk about the fear of a bubble in the renewable energy sector. Companies with immature technology or with only a few signed contracts, the increasing competition up the road will result in a price war between the various players and will play the profit. What do you think?
“It’s clear that the story of clean energy is part of the future of all of us. Huge sums of money have been invested in this area in recent years that are now beginning to manifest. Are all companies great? Probably not. I think every investor and customer should put their love on choosing the right technology and company correctly.
: But there’s no doubt that the world is going to Net Zero (zero carbon emissions – AP) – it’s not a question of whether but of when, and it’s already happening. The choice of Biden is another star in this chain of stars. “If the United States joins China, Japan, Australia and Europe, you understand that it cannot be stopped.”
The system on which Jensel is building for the future
In the first half of 2020, Jencel made only $ 200,000, after being hit by the corona crisis, during which time it also lost about $ 4 million. In the years 2018-2019, the loss was $ 73 million, but most of it was due to options allocated to employees.
The company’s revenue before 2020 was several million annually. At this stage, most of the sales are the responsibility of the company’s backup products, the G5 and G5rx, and Gencel estimates that in 2022 the A5 system will change the balance sheet and in the long run will have a major weight in the company’s revenues.
The same A5 system that Gensel designates as large is actually a kind of small power plant, a generator that is not based on solar or diesel energy, and is supposed to provide ammonia electricity to about a billion people in the world who live in places not connected to electricity, and have to settle for polluting substitutes.
According to IDTechEx, this is a market of about $ 100 billion annually. “It’s easy to imagine places like Central America and Africa, but this system will also help rural areas in Europe, the United States, and Scandinavia,” he says.
“There are areas that are not connected to electricity but are covered in terms of the cellular network, and that is because they have an antenna that receives electricity from diesel engines. It happens that only the construction of electricity infrastructure can cost 10-20 times more than the construction of the antenna.”
In Israel, there are also people who pay more in their health to be connected to the cellular network?
“Certainly, in quite a few places, such as in certain parts of Judea and Samaria, in the Bedouin diaspora, and also in ultra-Orthodox population centers that disconnect from the electricity grid every time Shabbat enters. The global figure speaks of 1.2 million such cellular antennas.
“On Road 90, for example, there is no media coverage, and if a car accident occurs, there is no way to ask for help. There is no coverage because there is no electricity infrastructure and no diesel-based generator is installed, because after 24 hours your tank is stolen, because it can be sold.
“It’s happening all over the world. A system like ours no one will steal because it has nothing to do with it. It’s cleaner than diesel, and this system needs to be refueled once a year. I think the chances of such a thing catching up and getting support are much higher than building electrical infrastructure. It will take decades and will require trillions of dollars. ”
Why actually need to produce hydrogen using ammonia?
“Because hydrogen is gas, most of its cost is transportation from place to place. Like cooking gas, you pay most of the money for the transport and the tank, not for the gas itself. Why is gasoline and diesel and anything that is liquid cheaper? Because it is easier to transport, and that is The key.
“This is why there is no hydrogen gas station on every street corner. Ammonia is the ultimate solution because it carries a lot of hydrogen. For every atom of nitrogen it has three atoms of hydrogen. It is cheaper than diesel in most of the world and can be transported at low pressure. We have developed the ability to extract The hydrogen from the ammonia. ”
Your T30 system is designed for battery-powered vehicles. In other words, we do not see vehicles powered 100% by hydrogen, but a kind of “next generation” of hybrid cars?
“We believe that instead of putting a 100-kilowatt fuel cell on the bus, it is possible to work with a 30-kilowatt fuel cell and a lithium battery. It will be just like today’s hybrids.
“Imagine that we take the internal combustion engine out of a hybrid car, put in a fuel cell and save. This is the most correct and economical concept, and there are more fuel cell companies that go for this matter of hybrid route.”
You are also developing a system that will store energy in the form of ammonia. What is it better than a storage battery or a system like
Augwind
-4.43%
Base:9,877
opening:9,850
Tall:9,850
low:9,437
change:3,831,460
Page Quote News Graphs Company Profile Recommendations
More articles on the subject:
, That the stock has risen since the IPO, which is based on underground air compression?
“Battery technology is becoming more sophisticated but it has physical limitations. You will not be able to move large amounts of energy inside a battery, and you will also need to charge a battery, which entails huge investments.
“Imagine a Babylonian building in Tel Aviv with 4 floors, not 20, that all the occupants have an electric vehicle. Do you think it will be able to supply electricity to all the vehicles? The answer is no. The electricity company will have to put heavy and very expensive infrastructure there.
“The great thing about ammonia is that it is a liquid so you can get the fuel to the point you need. In compressed air you make a hole in the ground and it is permanent. There are 200 million tons of ammonia in the world so this is the use we think will have a part. “Solar energy, wind energy, compressed air and fuel cells that run on hydrogen and ammonia. This is a huge market and there is room for everyone.”